A lot of strange things have been happening in Amber recently. What's a king to do other than search through shadow to find the rawest recruits he can? "In Sheep's Clothing" is a political mystery story that follows the player characters from the Amber DRPG game I ran as they discover Amber for the first time and learn to never trust family. (Unfinished/on hiatus)

It's been a while since I've written fan fiction. I debated writing this story for a while, but figured I'd go with it. My ADRPG group quit on me, so I never got to finish telling my story. This will help me get my campaign out of my system so I can focus on other things.

This story takes place roughly 40 Earth years after the end of The Courts of Chaos. For the purposes of this story, the events of Merlin's 5 books never happened.

I tweaked a few things for the sake of speed, but this is honestly about how the campaign ran. As for the Amberites changing when they trumped, I wanted to share that they wore different clothes in Amber, but didn't want to bother with the shadow walking that all three did at least a little before finally trumping the rest of the way. Pardon my inaccuracies. It was done purely for flow.

Though I'm not fond of first person perspective, I'm going to attempt to write in it for as long as I can. I want to attempt to mimic the feel of Zelazny's books. Also, it's good practice for me. Just a heads up, but the narrator will change every chapter. It'll be told from the viewpoint of all three of the player characters: Nils, Sebastian, and Jonah. The person who played Nils didn't come often, so he won't be in the story much. These three characters aren't mine and belong to their respective owners.

I awoke as usual: still drunk enough to not be hungover with some random broad pinning my thoroughly numbed arm to my bed. I slid myself out from under her, swearing under my breath at the sharp, painful pricklies. Luckily, it didn't take as long as usual for the feeling to return. I flexed my fingers a few times before rolling over and rubbing my bedmate's back. Time to wake a bitch up.

"Morning," I cooed into her ear. She moaned and rolled onto her back to blink groggily up at me.

"Morning," she purred as she pulled the sheet up to cover her exposed breasts. Damned if I didn't have fine tastes when I was drunk. This chick was all sorts of hot! Not that it was going to change my morning routine or anything.

"Good, you're up." I cut the cutesy shit and got out of bed. "See, I have class in, like, half an hour, so you need to be gone. Now."

She sat up, clutching the sheet to her to stay "decent." It wasn't like I hadn't seen everything just last night. "Sebastian? Wh-what do you mean? I thought we had something-"

"If you think that, then you're as dumb as you look." I pulled on a clean shirt and then lit a cigarette, which I gripped with my lips as I spoke. "Now get out. I can't have you screwing with my shit while I'm in class."

"You JERK!" She got up with a huff and collected her black lace panties from the lamp shade. "You'll pay for treating me like this! No one treats me like this! You'll never be able to get any ever again! I'll make sure of it!"

"Look, Carol-"

"My name's Christine!" She had, by this point, collected all of her clothes and had begun to dress.

"Yeah, whatever. Christine. Do you have any idea how many times I've heard that little line before? Yeah? Well, tons. And I still get pussy all the time. Less talking, more leaving, 'kay?"

Christine harrumphed. I'd never seen anyone angrily fasten a bra before. It was almost a turn on.

"You promised me breakfast." She spat venomously as she pulled on her miniskirt.

"Hm?" I looked up from my attempt to force my fingers to understand how belts work. "Oh. Right. Well, if you were paying attention last night, you would've noticed the basket of granola bars by the door. Take one as you leave. One!" I always had to stress this because dumb bitches never listen.

She glowered at me, bottom lip out, eyes threatening to pour down tears. "Bastard!" She shouted before storming out of the room. I peeked out of my door to watch her ass as she left. Just as I feared, she took two granola bars. Bitch. Those things aren't cheap!

I tapped the ash from my cigarette into the full ash tray on my dresser. I'd give her a few seconds head start before I left my start. I'd learned from experience that running into the bitch I just threw out of my apartment was never good for fueling the ever-growing local gossip.

After a time, I mashed the cigarette butt in with its friends and then left. I had a sculpture to finish.

The light rain that sprinkled down on my walk to the school (with a slight detour for some Starbucks) was both soothing and annoying. I pulled my thin jacket around me and took a gulp of my coffee. It was May, damnit! This kinda weather wasn't supposed to happen anymore! Stupid Washington…

I chugged the rest of my coffee and chucked it into the a nearby trashcan. I really needed a good smoke. Lucky for me, there was a smoke shack in front of the art department. Whoever decided on the placement of that shack was a genius who deserved a Nobel.

The drizzle seemed to have scared away most of the flocks that usually glommed around the place. That, and I was early enough to miss the storm of addicts that mobbed the place between periods. I'd have to keep it short if I wanted to avoid them completely, though.

I lit up a fresh cig as I walked into the glass building, giving a nod to some of the regulars I'd seen around before. Charlie, Sam, dude-who-always-has-paint-on-his-cheek, and… oh no… some bitch I'd slept with before establishing my "no sleeping with classmates" rule. Well, fuck. I avoided eye contact and headed toward the bench at the back of the shack.

…which was already taken by a sexy young thing with long, shapely legs. Hello!

I sat down next to her and smiled. She didn't even glance my way. "Hey," I said, laying on the charm.

"Hello," she replied simply in a silky voice.

"…what are you smoking?" I didn't even realize what I was saying until the words tumbled out of my mouth. I bit my lip and hoped she didn't take offence. However, I hadn't been expecting such a woman to be smoking a pipe.

"Oh, it's a unique blend," she said before puffing at it. "Would you like to try some?"

"Sure," I said, taking the pipe when she held it out. I took a puff, not quite sure what to do with a pipe. The flavor that filled my mouth was a lot richer than I had been expecting. I took another puff and then held it out to her.

"Weird, but not bad," I said. She took the pipe without looking at it and stuck it back into her mouth. "So, uh, what's your name?"

"Shandrin," she replied, still staring straight ahead. It was starting to creep me out a little.

"You could say that." She tapped her pipe against the bench to empty the ashes and then stood.

"Hey, what program are you in?" I asked, standing as well.

"Sculpture. They say I'm gifted like my mother."

"Oh hey! I'm in sculpture too!" Though who said 'gifted' anymore? She sounded a bit spoiled. Brat.

"I know. We're in the same class." She replied as she started to maneuver her way out of the smoke shack, which was starting to get crowded. I followed, making sure to keep enough distance to watch her supple ass swish side to side under her short, clingy skirt as she walked. Damn… Might have to make an exception for this one!

"We are, huh?" I thought back. I guess we were. I never paid attention to the other students, but someone like her should've stood out.

"Mhm," She stared straight ahead as she made her way through the halls. "I started last week."

"Ah." I jogged for a few paces to catch up with her so I was walking at her side again. There was plenty of room now that we were inside the school and I didn't want to seem weird following behind her like that. Anyway, I needed a better look at the front bits.

C cups. Not bad. The tight, low-cut shirt she wore showed them off well. Her waist was slender to the point of looking fragile. It was hard to resist putting my arm around it. And those legs! Those perfect legs… I wanted nothing more than to be between them right about now.

"What?" I had been distracted and hadn't noticed her talking to me.

"What's your name?" She repeated.

"Sebastian," I said simply before going back to my quiet assessment of her.

After a few moments, I cleared my throat. "So, uh, you free after class?"

Shandrin giggled playfully. "Maybe," she said as we reached the classroom. I played gentleman and opened the door for her. "Thank you."

I smiled at her, but she didn't even look at me. This bitch was impossible to read! Did she want the dick, or was she just pulling me along? "Uh… maybe we could meet for some drinks or something. I know a nice little place."

"If there's time," she replied as she pulled out her project. It was only partially done, but looked like a bust of some guy. Well, shit.

"Who's that?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"My brother Oliver," she replied. I tried not to seem too relieved.

"It…uh… well, it looks really good," I complimented as I started to pull mine down. I hesitated for a brief second, but she'd probably already seen me put my hand on the miniature naked woman and had probably seen me work on it in class, so I pulled it down anyway.

"What are you working on?" She asked as she prepared her tools.

"Um…well… Here. Look." I shifted my sculpture so that she could see it better.

"Do you mind if I touch it?" I couldn't help but notice her fantastic eyes. Such a pale, elegant shade of blue! I almost started to feel romantic and shit as I looked into them.

"Er…sure. Whatever." I said. Hey, if she wanted to touch boobies, I wasn't going to stop her. Maybe she secretly was a lesbian or something and would let me watch. Even hotter!

She ran her hands over the figure slowly, lightly, and giggled as she touched the breasts. "Classy," she commented.

"I wasn't the one who asked to touch it," I replied as I went back to work on my piece.

"Well, how else was I going to know what it looked like?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe by using your eyes?" I quipped without thinking. "What are you, blind?"

It was then that everything made sense. Everything fit together. Why she wouldn't look at me, why she had touched my art, why her eyes looked so weird… I flinched as she turned her empty gaze on me. "Yes. What are you, an idiot?" Her tone was harsh and biting, but she smiled after the remark and silently went back to her work like nothing had happened.

Ouch. How the hell is someone supposed to recover from that?

So I left. I didn't even put away my work. I just walked right out the door just as another early student was walking in. Hopefully, she hadn't heard me leave.

I returned after class to put away my things and found Shandrin still there, working on the sculpture of her brother like nothing had happened. Shit. But I couldn't just leave my work out! I'd spent a lot of time on those perfect tits. I gritted my teeth and tried to muffle my footsteps. Careful… careful… I crept closer and closer. Almost there…

"Sebastian?"

Damn.

I went back to walking normally and picked up my work. "Yeah." I muttered.

"I'm glad you're back," She said with a smile.

I turned. "Really?" I almost dropped my naked chick in surprise.

"Yeah. I had something to show you." She pulled a case out from between her boobs and opened it. Playing cards? I put away my statue and went over to her. She fanned the cards out in front of her in one hand and silently trailed the fingers of her other hand over them. I peered over her shoulder. They all looked like tarot cards. Creepy. Still would bang her if I got the chance, though.

She pulled one from the set, folding the rest and returning them to the case. " Here," she said, turning it so I could get a better look. The card showed a castle on a mountain, a moonrise behind it. "Isn't it beautiful?" She slid the fingers of her free hand into mine. Her skin was warm and dry, but soft.

"Yeah." I said blankly, not quite understanding what was so great about the card or how she even knew if it was beautiful or not. Hell, how did she even know what card she held? It could've been any of them, for all she knew!

She was silent. I glanced at her. She was staring intently at the card as though expecting it to do a trick. Things were starting to get awkward. I tried to pull away from her, but her grip tightened. Damn. I might have to change schools to avoid her crazy, but I'd still bang her first.

I sighed and looked back at the card in her hand. It was really well done. It even looked like it might've been hand painted. I thought for an instant that she might have painted it, but then remembered her blindness and felt stupid again. However, that feeling was only fleeting, quickly replaced by panic. The classroom was gone! "Where the hell are we?" I shouted.

Shandrin lowered the card, letting go of my hand so that she could return the image of the castle we now stood in front of back with the others tucked away between her breasts. Her outfit had changed along with the damn landscape. She now wore a short, layered, seafoam-green dress that looked like something a slutty teenaged girl would wear for a Halloween Tinkerbell costume. The sexiness almost distracted me from my panic.

"Welcome to Amber!" She said cheerily.

And that's when my life started to suck.

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